Random Wednesday 19

Back when I was in elementary school we went through a program called D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). This program is put on by the local police department. It's a 10 or so week program where a police officer comes in once a week for a few hours to talk about drugs, gangs, peer pressure, abuse, etc. At Kinyon Elementary (where I went in 5th grade) we had this awesome police officer, Officer Bob. He was funny and creative and just a blast to teach this program.  

Jump forward a few years to high school. I am asked/volunteered to become a D.A.R.E. mentor and spokesperson. What this meant was that I got to leave school once or twice a week for a few hours at a time to go visit all the elementary schools in my city and talk to the children about my experiences (or lack thereof) with drugs, peer pressure, gangs, etc. I really enjoyed doing this especially when it came time for the children to ask you questions. I don't recall any now, but I do know that, as with most children, they were brutally honest and hard to answer sometimes. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and although it might all be in my mind, I thought I made a tiny difference in these children lives. 

Let's jump again to today. I'm a 24 year old female who can proudly say that I stuck to my promise back when I was 10 years old in the D.A.R.E. program. Yes, yes, I'm drug free. Never once done any drug in my 24 years of existence. I'd be lying if I said that the temptation was never there (as it was) or the thought didn't cross my mind when presented the opportunity to do it (because it did), but I was stronger than the outside world. I knew what I believed in and stuck my ground.  Does this make me not cool? Maybe so. Does this make me a strange breed? I hope so! 

It really irks me that I am one of the very, very few people that I have ever met in my life that can wear the drug-free badge. It seems as though almost everyone in my generation, both years above and below, have tried a drug once in their lives. Does this make them a bad person? I don't think so. It just makes me a rare breed.